Manager : Commercial Underwriting

Telesure Investment Holdings; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 800 000 - 1 200 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading investment firm in Johannesburg seeks a Manager for Commercial Underwriting. This role involves designing underwriting frameworks, managing product development, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. Candidates must have extensive experience in short-term insurance and relevant qualifications. The position offers a competitive package and a dynamic work environment.

Qualifications

• Grade 12 / SAQA Accredited Equivalent is essential.
• 8 - 10 years in short-term insurance with commercial underwriting experience is essential.
• Advanced knowledge of business analysis and product development is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Design and manage technical underwriting frameworks.
• Oversee implementation of underwriting guidelines in the operational environment.
• Evaluate individual risks for acceptance and assist with audits.

Skills

Technical Underwriting

Risk Management

Stakeholder Engagement

Performance Management

Analytical Skills

Education

Relevant Degree in Underwriting or Mathematics

RE 5

FIISA, AIISA or Diploma in Insurance

Job description

Job title : Manager : Commercial Underwriting

Job Location : Gauteng, Johannesburg

Deadline : November 08, 2025

Job Purpose

Design, implement and manage a technical underwriting framework for TIH Business Insurance (BI) that fosters superior risk selection, streamlined processing, loss ratio management and underwriting profitability.

Responsibilities

Underwriting

• Make authoritative decisions about technical or professional underwriting and business enhancement solutions that would significantly improve business performance. Introduce underwriting rules on the acceptance of business. Resolve escalated underwriting complaints and escalated underwriting opinions on claims. Build, maintain and improve risk acceptance and underwriting guidelines as well as business rules and oversee the implementation thereof in the operational environment. Manage delegation of underwriting authority.
• Assist with certain responsibilities within specific projects that impact underwriting.

Product & Solution Development

• Manage a medium-sized product development or specialist team. May also or alternatively be responsible for managing the definition, development and delivery of a significant product or service within the product development and engineering program, ensuring alignment with customer requirements.
• Review and enhance Liability products accordingly (addressing gaps and competitively).
• Undertake market opportunity assessment for Liabilities products and undertake comparative analysis on key competitors’ products.
• Assist with market comparison on all available information from our partners, the industry, and internally to ensure we are constantly reviewing our departmental processes, systems and protocols with a view to improve efficiencies. Identify business opportunities; produce new ideas, approaches or insight; assist with implementation of any new products products or designs.

Risk Management & Analysis

• Evaluate individual risks for acceptance where potential high risk scenarios exist or where there are changes to a clients’ claims behaviour. Determine underwriting processes and minimum risk acceptance criteria for Liability Products.
• Assist with audits as and when required.
• Maintain consistency in criteria for risk acceptance thereof.

Underwriting Policy Development & Implementation

• Develop functional and operational policies, and help develop policy frameworks for the Specialist Liabilities Department. Take responsibility for creating Specialist Liabilities policy and monitoring their implementation.
• Monitor adherence to underwriting policy and set business rules.

Operational Compliance

• Monitor and review performance and behaviors within area of responsibility to identify and resolve non-compliance with the organization's policies and relevant regulatory codes and codes of conduct.
• Ensure that business activities within underwriting comply with relevant external regulatory codes and with internal policies and procedures to minimize business risk and to protect the reputation of the organization. Undertake technical underwriting audits.
• Maintain business rules around when audits are required and adhere to underwriting guidelines and standards by managing audits.
• Ensure that business objectives and personal delivery aligns to and meets the TCF principles.

Performance Management

• Respond to personal objectives and use performance management systems to improve personal performance. Monitor the performance of the team supporting the Specialist Liabilities Division; allocate work and review completion, take appropriate corrective action to ensure timeliness and quality.

Insights and Reporting

• Prepare and coordinate the completion of complex reports, identifying and interpreting patterns and trends, and translating those insights into actionable recommendations.
• Conduct monthly statistical analyses (loss ratio, multi-claimants and claims trends analyses) and engage underwriting (policy admin) to implement appropriate proposed corrective measures.
• Assist with the implementation of remedial measures.
• Prepare and contribute effectively to forums and committees where represented.

Stakeholder Engagement (Internal & External)

• Develop stakeholder engagement through identifying stakeholders, finding out their needs / issues / concerns and reacting to these to support the communication of business information and decisions.
• Establish and maintain interpersonal relationships by developing constructive working relationships. Effectively maintain and manage these relationships with service providers, colleagues and clients.

Organizational Capability Building

• Use the organization's formal development framework to identify the team's individual development needs.

Education

• Grade 12 / SAQA Accredited Equivalent (Essential); Relevant Degree in Underwriting or Mathematics or similar (Advantageous); RE 5 (Essential); FAIS recognized qualification (Essential); FIISA, AIISA or Diploma in Insurance or equivalent (Advantageous); Business Analysis certificate or similar (Advantageous)

Experience

• 8 - 10 years in short-term insurance (mainly MMIII and Assets All Risks wordings, BI product experience (Essential); Short-term insurance industry - commercial underwriting experience (Essential). 3 - 6 years experience of planning and managing resources to deliver predetermined objectives as specified by more senior managers (Essential)
• Insurance jobs